Happy Solstice

A possible way of looking at Solstices and Equinoxes as the function of a patriarchal separation of people from planet earth to a reorientation based on the sun and light.

life was under stewardship

In the matriarchal times the beginning of the Zodiac was Taurus, the sign denoting the womb with the Fallopian tubes on top and not the bull. At the equatorial zones and in the northern latitudes the seasons of planting began after the frost towards the end of April -the beginning of spring for earth. Worship of earth as womb and creator of life was honored and built into an agrarian based culture / civilization. Though women nurtured life and men were thought to be vessels of the Goddess of an earth based deity the culture was communally oriented, nothing was owned. All was shared with the group and life was under stewardship.

honoring the Goddess

It could also have been that the Southern Hemispheres were grounded in a culture where the beginning of the zodiac was Virgo, based on spring there. Jeffrey Wolf Green, astrologer suggests that when men began realizing they contributed sperm and were not just vessels used by the Goddess they rebelled and the patriarchy was born – in reaction. Men owned property, women and children. Male children passed on the ownership and legacy of men etc.

a hierarchy took root

The focus moved away from nurturing earth, honoring the Goddess into worship of a God in the heavens thus the solstices and equinoxes, seasons divided into four quarters by amounts of light. Agriculture continued under the increasingly greater control of men and eventually science (an extension of men) but the focus was shifted from Earth to Sky and a hierarchy took root.

a sky God that meshed with the patriarchal structure of leadership

Goddess as Earth was a bountiful civilization with a nurturing structure of stewardship that maintained a mostly horizontal structure with the exception of the dimishment of the importance of the male. In the European and Tigris-Euphrates Rivers of Turkey, Syria and Iraq the overthrow of the matriarchy though violence was easy, as Attila the Hun swept across Asia – conquering. The matriarchy wasn’t prepared for the sudden change. In the Americas the changes in the indigenous population was more gradual from matriarchy to patriarchy. The patriarchal tribes retained many of the matriarchal transitions before they were albeit destroyed by the Europeans.

pure Goddess / Matriarchy roots

The patriarchal God was a reactionary and vengeful God that came from above – a sky God that meshed with the patriarchal structure of leadership. This seemed to be a rageful reaction to the oppression by the matriarchy and the systemic misogyny based in the newer system. It wasn’t until the patriarchal God sent male saviors that retribution was supplanted by other forms of leadership though that appears to have been largely unsuccessful.

Wicca and Pagan celebrations though influenced by the patriarchy were still rooted in the matriarchy and may have tried to combine Solstice and Equinox traditions with pure Goddess / Matriarchy roots. The patriarchy sought to demonize them on many occasions, early Christians hid their celebrations by blending them with Pagan and Wicca celebrations and later demonized them via the Roman Catholic Church, for example.

Nevertheless, below in figures 1 through 4 are 3 representations of the upcoming Winter Solstice and one of the Summer Solstice:

The gap between the patriarchy and the next epoch of which we are on the cusp is about a balancing and/or healing of the patriarchy with the matriarchy to help co-create an age of cooperative partnership.

The short answer is yes and the United States is leading the charge. Capitalism in its current state drives Climate Change and is facilitating the destruction of the human species in what many have called the last great extinction event.

the human species is driving itself to extinction

Capitalism in its most current incarnation creates increased surplus population, treats natural resources as unlimited raw materials / things, divides the world into makers and takers which in-turn destroys communities and glorifies every individual for themselves, deifies greed, money and power, focuses on quarterly profits, drives moneyed economies at the expense of real growth for all and the destruction of the planet for humans and thousands of other species.

I’m not an economist and it doesn’t take an economist to see that the human species is driving itself to extinction. This is common sense. In order for the system to work there must be a variety of extraneous factors that do not contribute to growth GNP.

Short term / quarterly greed-based profits fuels short shortsightedness of the future of humans on planet Earth

Surplus Population

Surplus population does not contribute to capitalism. They are excluded from the statistics of the economy and by design they only matter in two ways: the population excess must be excluded for the capitalistic engine to work and the surplus population can be blamed when capitalism appears to fail.

Surplus Populations:

Students

The incarcerated and prisoners (in the prison system)

Pregnant mothers and stay-at-home mothers

Children

Soldiers

Unemployed

Non-employed

Severely addicted to drugs and / or alcohol

Hospitalized (short term) Mentally Ill

Long term incarcerated mentally ill

Homeless

Disabled

Short and long term medically hospitalized

Illegal Immigrants – both seasonally employed or unemployed and unemployable

There are transient members of the surplus groups: higher education, pregnant mothers, short term unemployed, children that become adults and get jobs, soldiers re-entering the job market and prisoners being released from prison that get jobs (far more prisoners are there for life-sentences sometimes for non-violent crime).

The Drivers of Capitalism

All those who have jobs

Managers

CEOs

Wall Street

Investors that make money from investing in businesses

Investors that make money from investing in money

Capitalism and the reductionism of science does not take into account the sacredness of life

The Hidden Assumptions of Capitalism

Short term / quarterly greed-based profits fuels short shortsightedness of the future of humans on planet Earth. Capitalism does not consider raw materials in its equation for profits because raw materials are things that are considered to be in an unlimited supply. Petroleum is sought after through fracking for instance, which is not a cost-effective extraction method for finding oil as well as the damage to land and the poisoning of water supplies. Because profit margins are short sighted/ based on quarterly profits this mindset is applied to the extraction of raw materials from the planet by whatever means necessary. The reverse is also true products are applied to agriculture to speed the harvest that may cause unforeseen health risks and damage to the soil. Health risks are good for the medical and pharmaceutical industries. Damage to the soil may be augmented by more products to enhance the productivity of the soil but may not address the health of the soil and so on. The short-term growth is considered of primary importance so profit is maximized over a short period of time like an addictive high.

Capitalism and the reductionism of science does not take into account the sacredness of life especially the life of the planet and her minerals, ores, soil, trees, animals, plants, oceans and landmasses. Capitalism uses science to augment profit especially short-term profit fueled by unbridled greed to destroy our future especially in the face of climate change.

The Road Out via Compassion

I grew up inside a Terrorist Regime: in my family of origin where my father was the dictator and his word was law.

When I was a pre-teen he would shout me down into submission when he disagreed with something I said and end with telling me I was being illogical.

This was worse than death, torture of my dog.

He would continue to castigate my mother by telling her she was “irrational”. More often than not she was intuitive and non-rational

Around that time we adopted a stray dog: Peewee. He went everywhere with me – on my walks in the woods and to the reservoir. We never tied him up when we weren’t home. He ran with a pack of dogs that ate sheep. The sheep owner told us we would have to tie him up. We did for a while and then not having the heart to keep him tied up we let him go and he ate sheep again. My father was to take him to the vet to be put down. At dinner that night my father said:

I took Peewee to Yale to be experimented on.

My head sank. This was worse than death, torture of my dog. I was so sad and down.

I thought you liked science – my father said.

Not anymore – I said starting to get angry.

But I couldn’t show my anger otherwise I’d get in-trouble so I stuffed it.

After dinner beginning in my early teens we played Ping-Pong every night after dinner. He’d use psychological tactics on me to goad me to become angry, throw me off balance so he could win. One night, I thought – this is supposed to be fun. I decided not to get angry and started winning games. Once that happened he stopped playing and admitted that I had been a better player than he was and that by using psychological tactics he knew he could win.

he would bait others into Republican ideological arguments and then shout them down when they didn’t agree with them

When I was a teenager my father would bait me into arguments that I was emotionally invested in and then use his premise to make me feel wrong and confused. I’d fall for his debate tactics every time. When I was in my twenties I began to disagree with his premises and all “debate” ended.

My mom came to me and asked: “What am should I do about your father?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well you know how he is.”

My mother’s friends never came over anymore because he would bait others into Republican ideological arguments and then shout them down when they didn’t agree with them.

“You could see a therapist or minster,” I said.

“I couldn’t do that,” she replied.

“You could get a divorce,” I said.

“Oh no, I couldn’t do that,” she replied.

“Well, I don’t know what else to tell you,” I said.

My sister and I would spend all daylight hours outside of the house away from my mother and father and that I supposed was normal. We lived surrounded by bucolic regions of farms, fields and woods. My father would use his booming voice to call us for dinner while we were at least a mile away. He had had a lot of practice bellowing.

He told me once that he promised never to hit us like his father had done to his mother, him and his two sisters. But he broke his promise a few times. However he made up for actually physical violence by terrorizing us with verbal and non-verbal threats.

He often accused and never apologized even when he made a mistake.

He oscillated between sometimes being a looming or threatening boss to be a playful child albeit isolating. He was jealous of my mother having any recognition and acted passive-aggressively to quell her recognition: My mother would play the piano and we would sing folk songs and Christmas Carols after dinner. My mom also painted some. My father decided he could paint too. He painted some squares and a triangle on a canvas and put a mahogany frame around it. He hung it over the piano. When this happened I felt a profound shame and the childish jealousy of my father. My mother’s only visible protest was never to play the piano again. We all knew and my father had won his petty little game.

Our father yelled from the other room to “Stop it,” in his booming voice. We furtively glanced at each other snickering under our breaths and then began bickering again:

“Yes it is,” I fired out.

“No it isn’t,” my sister came back.

And on we went…

Our father appeared in the door of the kitchen his face red with rage, fists clenched he spewed in a vitriolic manner:

You kids cease and desist this instant!

I thought blood would spurt from a vein in his forehead. He glared at us full of fury and rage. I had to bite my tongue so as not to speak or laugh. Many years later my sister told me she was so terrified that she had wet herself.

In my arguments to my father about the Vietnam war – I returned from college and told him I was against the war: he punched me across the face with a 1-2 punch and then in the stomach. He opened the front door of the house and threw me into the bushes and said:

Don’t you ever set foot in this house, again.

I was shaking and crying. A moment later he came out and invited me back inside saying:

I guess I didn’t brainwash you good enough.

I knew my mother had stood up for me in that moment.

I learned to bring emotion into our debate and was able to stop many debates cold such as: The Vietnam war is wrong because killing for any reason is wrong and that’s how I feel.

my father was extremely obnoxious … after drinking in the afternoon

Later when I was going through a very rough time and we were in family therapy without my sister who was in college out west my father agreed to be nice to me. For about a year and a half he was nice. And then he changed back.

When I asked him about the change he said: “I can see that you were okay so I decided to be myself again.”

I offered to do some hands-on healing.

My father would have an occasional beer and an after dinner liquor when his friends came over for dinner. Once I had lunch with him in New Haven in the 1974 when we both worked in the city (it was the summer that Nixon resigned). He had a pitcher of beer with lunch. He seemed the same before as he did afterwards. At that time I wasn’t as aware of the various shades of alcoholism as I became later.

In the 1980s my sister visited with my mother and father. I met them for lunch. I was to meet them later at their Bed and Breakfast and then we were to meet up my woman lover at a restaurant in Glen Ellen. When I met them at the B&B my father was extremely obnoxious: grabbing a magazine article from my hands while I was reading it, ignoring my protest, telling me I had to listen to him etc… Later I learned that he and my sister had gone to a bar after lunch and had been drinking. My mother probably just watched – she didn’t drink due to health issues.

I felt satisfied that I was able to help him and that he had accepted my help.

They moved from Connecticut to North Carolina and I visited them in 2000.

My father said out of the blue:

“They’ve discovered planets in other solar systems.”

“Good for them,” I replied.

“How does astrology explain that?”

‘Oh brother here we go again.’ I thought

“Sounds like your trying to make fun of my profession as an astrologer,” I said going to the end point.

“Ah, no, no I wasn’t,” he said and dropped the whole thing. I was relieved and he seemed relieved as well.

He often accused and never apologized, ever.

By August of 2005 my father was on oxygen from pulmonary fibrosis – a lung disease. Even on O2 he had difficulty breathing, gasping for air. Towards the last hour of my stay I offered to do some hands-on healing. I thought he would refuse since he rarely praised me and denigrated my actions, choices and accomplishments at every turn of my life. I was surprised that he agreed.

For the next 45 minutes while I was there he breathed normally and appeared thankful though he said nothing. I felt satisfied that I was able to help him and that he had accepted my help.

He died in 2006 on my birthday from from pulmonary fibrosis.

END NOTES: I learned much about the frightened Conservative stance towards the world through my father and his strong patriarchal ideals. Underneath all that bluster, anger and rage was a frightened boy who had never recovered from the abuse at the hands of his father. My father acknowledged the beatings that my grandfather had meted out on him his sisters and his mother. I’m sure there was sexual abuse that was repressed and / or supressed by alcohol abuse and acting-out rage, just as my garndfather had sexually abused me in horrific ways.

Beyond the unhealed abuse and fear that caused him to shift from an expansive man who had voted for JFK to one who embraced Nixon, Reagan, and both Bushs. Nixon was elected in 1969 when my father was almost 50. This is sometimes the period that people wither or break free from their parents belief systems. Or they become dissillusioned with the ideals of youth and fall back into what they know. My father embraced conservativism because it was about the past – government unresponsive to the needs of the many and only able to see the needs of the privelged and the elite in which he identified.

Fear is a breeding ground for greed, having enough, believing government stood in the way of making as much money as possible for himself. He was angry at those in civil service work because they made almost as much as he did as an executive for Ma Bell. Manual labor was beneath him. The intellect was all powerful and deserved the best of the elite. The common man – the middle class became superfluous, invisible and therefore inconsequential to him.

He belived in the platitudes and the American Dream and thought that all had access to it through hard work. He was sexist and racist and homeophobic. He was a sad broken man who took out his wounds on others.

I am happy to have survived my childhood with my heart intact though it took me many years to get in-touch with my emotions. I have forgiven my father for all the wounds he had perpertated on me. And I trust that his consciousness is growing in a life beyond his mortal coil.

Taurus – The Womb — figure 1

Intro – I subscribe to the Vedic (Eastern Astrological) interpretation of retrograding planets: the energy of the planet becomes more intense because it’s closer to Earth during retrograde than direct motion.

Since when to we point to an outside force as controlling our destiny?

What retrograde motion really means? —- A planet in retrograde “appears” to go backwards in relationship to Earth and the background of planets, stars and outer space. This is an optical illusion. When a retrograde motion occurs the planet moves into a close orbit with Earth. For more in retrograde motion visit this NASA page: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap031216.html

Dangers in one-sided Western Astrology Thinking —– Western Astrologers reports that the energy of retrograding planets are turned inward and thus help create a scapegoating mindset. This sets up a victim-think stance during the retrograde period. Blame it on “Mercury Retrograde” for example rather than rise to and overcome challenges.

In the matriarchy Taurus was the beginning of the zodiac

Doesn’t using astrology as a tool help us to overcome crises? Since when to we point to an outside force as controlling our destiny?

Venus and the world beyond the patriarchy —– Venus as Goddess, Venus as relationship, Venus as personal energy, Venus representing women and the feminine in the world are some of the representations of the mythos of Venus.

Venus represents many things, the Goddess, love and relationship, art, drama, beauty and personal power to manifest, and to name a few…

The power of Venus and receptivity for example comes from inclusiveness

Venus is said to rule Taurus and Libra. In the matriarchy Taurus was the beginning of the zodiac, not Aries. Notice figure 1, the symbol for Taurus – not the Bull but the womb with the Fallopian tubes on top – symbol of manifestation and giving birth. The patriarchy usurped the feminine sign of Taurus for a masculine power of the Bull (one step in demonizing the matriarchy).

Astrologically Venus is usually relegated romantic love and relationships, art, beauty and all that is soft and receptive. It would seem that the fierce and unrelenting aspects of Venus as Goddess have been suppressed by the patriarchy much as Taurus, the womb of creation was usurped by a male symbol of the bull. Much of Venus in relationship to Taurus has been suppressed and perhaps denied. The power of Venus and receptivity for example comes from inclusiveness. Making and holding space while leading by example inside the space attracts others to the space or cause. This could be the democratization of the power of inclusivity behind a cause for example. This is not to exclude the role of Mars and the pointed energy of Mars or male energy in case and effect actions: “I see what I want and I take actions to get it.” Both kinds of actions are part of our world. However the Venus, by inclusion way of leading is downplayed and excluded thus denigrating receptive actions and women who could lead us to greatness by celebrating the power of inclusivity.

Ruling comes from the hierarchical structure of the patriarchy

Venus rules Taurus from a point of view of inclusivity would infer that a planet’s ruling a sign is less about ruling and more about co-creation. Ruling comes from the hierarchical structure of the patriarchy. When making and holding space for manifestation or creation both an attribute of Taurus as womb and Venus / Goddess containing the womb then there is a possibility of a paradigm shift. Partnership is the key. There is a partnership between the attributes of Venus and Taurus. When ruling is changed to partnering or co-creation the world of astrology and the world at large become bigger and hold the possibility of greater inclusion. Greater inclusion leads to prosperity for all.

the art of life

Venus is associated with art, beauty and form. In our search for meaning, happiness and success we become artists, creators of our immediate reality to some degree. The structures of language and civilization lead to art forms, stories that have a beginning middle and end, followed by a new beginning. These forms or stories are art and containers where we hold space for our lives to have meaning as in phrases such as “the body of work” etc. Venus as art when joined in a partnership with Taurus becomes a womb or cauldron for creation and this is the art of life.

In traditional Western Astrology the natural sign of the second house is Taurus that co-creates with Venus to exude values, personal energy and personal money. When the second house is looked at from a non-patriarchal or partnership perspective it becomes the space or womb of creation for our values, energy and money in the context of others.

Out of the mystical transformations of re-birth (Scorpio) comes the harmony of partnership

When working with receptivity on a practical level we may create a space that is imagine a space, a box, a living room a place that can hold people, ideas, purpose and objects that can be used to symbolize a goal. Remember to imagine putting yourself in the space. “See” someone next to you in the imaged space you’ve created that you can assist and they can assist you with your goal and then extrapolate others that are helping you and that you are help achieve your goal. And you can just wait and sit around waiting for this to all fall into place you must also do some yang / male/ Mars work of cause and effect – making things happen.

Venus Retrograde and The US Midterm Elections —– The force of Venus as Goddess in Scorpio especially during the upcoming retrograde period of October 6 through 31, 2018; then Venus continues retrograding in Libra from November 1 until November 16 well past the American elections in the closer races [11-16-18 at 2:51 am PST or 11-15-18 11:51 pm EST]. Scorpio represents both the mysteries of transformation from the murky depths of water to the Phoenix Bird consuming itself in fire to die in order to create something new. Out of the mystical transformations of re-birth (Scorpio) comes the harmony of partnership and balance (Libra) of both women voting (and men too supporting women and rebirth through voting) and winning office seats at all levels of government on November 6th as one example of this retrograde Venus time.

solidarity of sisterhood everywhere

As Venus retrogrades from the last of Scorpio (October 31st) into the last degree of Libra on November 1st until Venus goes direct on Friday November 16 2018 at 10:52 UT or 2:52 am PST (or Friday November 16th at 10:52 UT 5:52 am). [Coincidentally Mercury goes retrograde on Friday November 16th in the 5:33 pm PST or 8:33 pm EST.]

Venus after her intense ride through transformational Scorpio settles into a partnership of solidarity of sisterhood everywhere and in the context of the US midterm elections a wave of women voters to heal the patriarchy old guard by voting them out of office. On Election Day at sunrise in Washington DC it’s karmic payback time (Moon in Scorpio at 29 degrees – energy blended with retrograding Venus) as we’re poised between the past and future (south node – Aquarius –north node Leo square Moon and Venus) for a big upset in close races and a wave of women in a progressive blue wave (Uranus at zero degrees Taurus retrograde opposite Moon and Uranus and poised between past and future -. See chart below:

When I was a teenage my father would yell at the television, mock President Johnson and say “Those goddamn Democrats” etc. It’s something he never said to my mother’s liberal friends in face-to-face encounters. One of the meta-rules (unspoken) is a sense of civility between people. That seems to be eroding.

That polarization on behalf of Corporate-Congressional Complex

When Republicans and Conservatives became more vocal they began to make anyone that didn’t share their point of view anti-American. The GOP in order to win has made liberals, the left, moderates, Democrats, Progressives the enemy to be defeated and destroyed. Some of this came from Newt Gingrich and Karl Rove. In some ways I believe that the top tenth of 1 percent of the richest Americans on the planet such as the Koch’s may have germinated this idea of Liberals as enemies so that Congress / or elected representatives would be forced to endless debates without accomplishing any new laws. President Clinton’s abandonment of the people to pursue money interests from Liberal 1 percent donors contributed to the Corporatization of American government and the further eroding of our democracy. That polarization on behalf of Corporate-Congressional Complex has stalled democracy and taken it off the table.

Trump – a poor role model of a President

These examples from the Liberals, Moderates and Conservatives are more evident in light of Trump’s support of misogyny, hate groups, big money, isolationism – it brings out previous examples of oppositional behaviors of Congress as an example to others of acceptable behaviors both by Republicans, Democrats and by Trump – a poor role model of a President. GOP and Democrats are now examples of an entrenched conflict that assists in fanning a flame throughout the internet and this has been supported by Russian hacking of late.

But would we be doing this in a public format?

On the Internet, especially platforms such as Facebook its easy to swear, to call someone you don’t like an “asshole” and have others join us in profanity and negative remarks about the other. But would we be doing this in a public format?

My code for the most part on Facebook

Some would and it’s a spill over of private, semi-private and public comments on Facebook. When civility existed much more before the advent of the Internet and social media there seemed to be more cooperation between people who disagreed.

My code for the most part on Facebook:

Do not engage in swearing and profanity in criticism of Trump or others in their beliefs if possible.

Ask questions

Offer even constructive criticisms of comments if possible

Ignore posts when I feel too angry to respond with civility.

Avoid arguing with Trump supporters about Trump or his policies if possible.

Keep rants to a minimum.

Make a call to my representative about an issue or make a donation even if it’s a small one.

It may take many years to restore our government to a democracy and I commit to this.

When I look back to my childhood things seemed idyllic and I often long for those simpler times. The operative word regarding the simplicity of childhood is seemed. Childhood seems simpler for two reasons – our minds have not developed enough to grasp complex ideas, notions and systems; and two as the population increases with technological advances, climate change not-withstanding the world has become mindbogglingly complex.

a desire for “the good old days”

In my family I have noticed in my sibling that the loss of our father marked a shift in her to embrace the conservative values of my father and the nostalgia of my mother’s romanticisms. She may have thought she had fully processed her grief, but her reversion to a desire for “the good old days” became evident in her insular attitudes and an increased right-wing conservative political stance as well as a refusal to see that the world has changed around her.

These models of individualism while admirable create winners and losers

I suspect that those that embrace the desire for simpler times (of the past) are intellectually and/or emotionally stuck at a variety of childhood ages. They often long for parent-figures that will lead them to the Promised Land [1]. This longing is often expressed in ideologies that emphasize past philosophies of mythological successes such as rugged individualism, rags to riches stories and the like – mirrored in “The American Dream”.

President is a father figure that can solve all our problems

These models of individualism while admirable create winners and losers that in our current world fall apart. Winners either want to assist “losers” or they wish to punish losers for the most part. This is a longer discussion based on the failings of the patriarchy and its new god of consumer capitalism.

Simple answers are not enough for a prosperous people

The childhood longing for simplicity in a complex world leads individuals with antiquated beliefs to vote for Presidents that offer simple solutions to complex problems. Extreme examples of leaders with a simple answers philosophies lead may lead to fascist states. Part of the idea of a President is a father figure that can solve all our problems and make the world safe whether it be simple or complex especially in a failing patriarchal system [2]. (Even a woman president plays by patriarchal rules so that it’s impossible for any of us to escape patriarchal thinking.)

ensure the survival of the human species in the face of climate change

I used to think after President Clinton and President Obama were elected that I could “relax” and that things were taken care of. In hindsight neither of these Presidents did not institute enough nor the right kind of reforms to represent the majority of people economically, to adequately address the role of the military, or aggressively pursue the problems of climate change – though Obama did make some initial strides here.

Simple answers are not enough for a prosperous people. A president alone is not enough. Our representatives are not enough. As a citizen (and not a consumer) it is my responsibility to take an active role beyond merely voting for representatives and a president.

Major issues that need to be addressed and worked towards solutions:

To ensure the survival of the human species in the face of climate change

Superlative secondary education

Income equality

Housing

Corporate / Big Money out of politics

Fair agriculture

Addressing the future of work especially with regard to automation and robotics

Healthcare

These are complex and inter-related issues that can be solved when communities work together.

NOTES:

The Greeks looked to the Elysium Fields of the west as the promised land of paradise. The west as myth woven with The American Dream was never equally accessible by former slaves. Even for those that felt they have achieved or are on their way of the American Dream they must belong to an educated upper class and have extraordinary luck. Also the Dream is based on the acquisition of “more” money of which there will never be enough.

The patriarch system is a hierarchical structure with the Alpha male on top. It is based on power-over dynamics. There will always be someone over you and someone under you whether you are the most powerful person in the world or someone without any seeming power. The dangers in this kind of system is a focus on its internal criteria to the exclusion of those “objects: that ensure survival – the “object” that is a sacred being and the context of our home – Earth. Even though the patriarchy could be shaped to include earth and her bounty in a capitalistic economy the internal dynamic of winners and losers belies community systems

Sixty years ago my family bought a GE toaster that I have and I use regularly. It makes good toast. I have had other toasters and a few toaster ovens that have broken and were eventually too expensive to repair.

a rubric of infinite resources, income and growth in a finite world

Capitalism after WWII was steeped in growth, craftsmanship and materialism. It was a time a massive rebuilding, re-population and expansion. Though mass production reigned, craftsmanship and materialism were the building blocks of capitalism. Labor unions, industry and government were partners in reconstruction after the war and there was a resplendent growth of the middle class and income.

Capitalism in its continual reinvention of itself relies on some major flaws. One of the most obvious flaws are the finite limits of growth. It operates under a rubric of infinite resources, income and growth in a finite world.

The vestiges of citizenship were degraded into “the consumer”

In the 1980s capitalism threw off the last vestiges of materialism in favor of mass consumerism through planned obsolescence. The shift from materialism to accelerated consumer based capitalism accentuated the flaws of the system and produced lemmings running to the sea. Capitalism became the religion of the land and democracy grew more entrenched as a slave to consumer-capitalism.

Corporations have become the new citizens who have delegated individuals as the consumers of goods and services.

The vestiges of citizenship were degraded into “the consumer” as political action committees (PACs) usurped individual citizens’ participation in government and re-election of so-called “representatives”. Congresspersons and Senators have become the servants of corporations in order to streamline government for accelerated capitalism. As citizens have become superfluous they have in-turn been plugged into being consumers of products and services of demagogue type of capitalism.

Corporations have become the new citizens who have delegated individuals as the consumers of goods and services. Products have been redefined into smaller parts designed to wear out swiftly and /or be replaced by newer “improved” models. Services are also degraded by dividing services into smaller portions, employing less qualified people and by outsourcing – language barrier problems (outsourcing is double-speak for layoffs).

The finite world is ignored for immediate quarterly profits

Another PAC strategy for corporate agendas is making “representatives” into divisive enemies so that either nothing is accomplished for individuals. One PAC strategy are “a no-holds barred” attacks against the enemy such as Republicans versus Democrats; Pro-Life versus Pro-Choice, etc. Democracy has been lost in the process and applies more to corporations than individuals. Giant powerful PACs are increasingly controlled by the top tenth of the one percent wealthiest individuals who ascribe to making more money and a consolidation of power.

The finite world is ignored for immediate quarterly profits. The focus of corporate/business and financial leadership is profitability in the next three months that can be extrapolated into a yearly goal. Looking into a future of the limits of growth based on finite resources is not built into consumer-capitalism. As a result the current reiteration of capitalism is systemically handicapped to deny finite resources through faulty cognitive re-framing. Some of this is the momentum of the capitalistic system fueled by greed and a lust for power and some must have a conscious design. At the base of this consolidation of power is an addiction of greed fueled by fear.

(Conservative/GOP) group views consumers below a certain income level and all liberals as potential servants, serfs and those needing manipulation

While consumer-capitalism within a broken patriarchal system has its own momentum that may carry many leaders of this movement along in a short-term gain (that looks long-term in the context in which they flourish) there is another conscious force at work. Some of the top tenth of the one percent of wealth in the world fights for increasing consolidation of power and wealth (call them A) while others fight for a more equitable distribution of wealth (call them Z).

A’s use their money, power and influence to create obstacles in government to further or block the agenda of the other side. When Newt Gingrich came into power he begun to characterize the opposition – the Democrats as “enemies” of the people. Before that time Democrats and Republicans may have vehemently disagreed with one another and their goal was to govern so they compromised to move their agenda forward. The current climate between Liberals and Conservatives is combat. There seems to be less compromise. Conservatives work at blocking Liberals at every turn. The result is no new legislation is adopted. Even in the current Republican block to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act has only left the ACA in shambles and disrepair. Its as if the GOP’s secret wish was (is) to replace the ACA with nothing. The A group is moving towards satisfaction with the ACA being replaced by nothing because they wish to see a world that existed before the implementation of the Income Tax – 1912. When US Congress is deadlocked and new legislation is passed the A Group is generally satisfied. The only times that the A group may be dissatisfied is when legislation that favors their position is not voted into law.

Since 1776 to 2015 the US has been involved in wars 93% of the time

The A Group views consumers below a certain income level and all liberals as potential servants, serfs and those needing manipulation to motivate them towards they’re agenda.

The A Group does not want:

Income equality

Advancements in public education – (or consumers to think for themselves for then they may become citizens)

Racial equality

LGBT equality

Women to have equal rights, equal pay, the right to have control over their bodies (pro-choice), equal protection under the law

Consumers to live in a world without fear

To acknowledge that Climate Change caused by and /or contributed to by humans is real.

Considers the ACA a hand-out and doesn’t want government to support public health for all

All government programs devoted to public welfare as entitlements to be (Social Security, Medicare etc.)

To have peace in the world unless monitored by a strong US military presence in order to have a foothold on remaining limited resources

The Koch brothers (see end note) could be considered the most identifiable humans belonging to the A Group while Libertarians, Conservatives and some Republicans are also A Group members. A notable Z-Group member is George Soros and his organization (see end notes).

FDR President Roosevelt created social nets to assist the US to move out of the Great Depression, but the final impetus that extricated the US from the depression and accelerated growth was the entrée into and winning WWII. Prior to the mid to late 1980s the premise of wars were to stop the spread of Communism as represented by the now former Soviet Union and China while expand US interests. Now wars seem to be oriented towards oil resources.

Earth’s nutrients are the raw materials for corporate products. Some of Earth’s nutrients are renewable – as in agricultural fruits and vegetables, farm animals etc. Some farming techniques although provide greater crop yield may deplete the soil in such a way to make it non-sustainable over the longer term. Other of earth’s resources such as elements – metals and oil are non-renewable and finite.

Capitalism especially in its latest consumeristic reshaping does not consider the resources from the Earth in its cost effect analysis in part to the patriarchal mind-set and in-part to shortsightedness – quarterly profits.

The consumeristic-capitalism has been marked by US Political struggles of almost a constant state of war. Since 1776 to 2015 the US has been involved in wars 93% of the time (see end note). The only period the US was not involved in a war was 1935 to 1940 during an isolationist period during the Great Depression.

The current Trump administration is a characterization of all that elitists members of the GOP and conservatives represent as well as a longing for the good old days before the income tax and in support of isolationist ideals. It represents patriarchal self-interest that contributes to increasing isolationism, mergers, and maximizing profits for the wealthy elite, disregarding any community-based profits based on sustainability, protecting natural resources – environmental protections while marginalizing, discounting and enslaving those that have less by:

keeping their wages fixed and/or lowered

keeping them out of labor unions and making “labor unions” a dirty word

dividing them into factions that war against each other

gutting public education and dumbing down citizen’s ability to reason

providing entertainment that discourages reasoning

providing entertainment that displays the hopeless world that they live and will live in the future (only much worse) and that one common person can be the hero or savior

promotes the “myth of the American Dream”

encourages disempowered citizens to fear so that a limited number of avenues are open to them:

The American Dream

Fundamentalist Religion

Blaming or scapegoating a group of people based on race or ideology

Providing simple solutions to complex problems often based on “the American Dream mythology”

The patriarch authority in the form of Christian monks demonized all Goddess worship in order to suppress and replace pagan rituals.

Friday or the Goddess Freya was called unlucky by the Christian authority because it was a day of the sacred female divinity. Friday the 13th was made to be unlucky because it was associated with the 13th month of the year in the Menstrual Calendar. [1]

In many religions Friday was (is) considered the 7th day of the week and is the most sacred day.

Fish was eaten on Fridays as a fertility right, which was later absorbed into a Christian ritual. [1]

The Church in Europe used the Julian calendar. Peasants used the Menstrual or Goddess-Given calendar. The Lunar calendar was 13 months of 28 days each, each week being 7 days. (13×28=364 plus 1) – was the Menstrual Calendar that conformed to the cycles or phases of the moon namely:

Chinese women established a lunar calendar about 3,000 years ago dividing the stellar sky into 28 “mansions” that the moon transversed. The Great Mayan calendar had first been based on “her menstrual cycles”. The word “mensis” is Latin for month, Greek, Middle English and High German – moon. [2]

No one knows – as in a documented sense where this suppression and demonization of woman / the Goddess arises. Astrologer Jeffery Wolf Green writes about the end of the matriarchy and beginnings of the patriarchy in his astrology books. The male rebellion against the Goddess appeared to contain the seeds of the hatred and repudiation of the feminine within a patriarchal dominated culture.

Green states (am I am summarizing and paraphrasing) that women believed that spirit – the divine worked through men to delivery the seed for children to come into the womb of women. Men were superfluous vessels for the seed to be carried. The seed or sperm did not originate with men it originated in the divine feminine and men were hollow vessels in service to the Goddess. The matriarchy raised children in a group setting, there was no family with a man as the leader. All property was held communally. There was no need for weapons of war, no armies, no defense against invaders because everyone lived this way for a few thousand years. [3]

Green states that men became increasingly angry over time and began to over throw female leadership in a violent acting-out manner of raping, pillaging and murder on a massive scale. [3]

What evolved out of that was the family. The man was the leader and the owner of woman and children. I would be remiss if I didn’t write about the legacy of anger that each man holds over women, other men and children as well as dominion over “the earth”.

Some men continue to act-out this anger in the context of the patriarchal system without any self-awareness. Other men have or are continuing to struggle to examine the legacy of anger and the anger within themselves to find a cause for it and work on resolving it responsibly as it arises.

Until more men can and do step forward individually and as a group to own the accountability and responsibility for crimes against the other outside their gender then the legacy of anger will continue. This hard-wiring of anger is oppositional to all the principles of the matriarchy and the divine-feminine.

The matriarchy held all life as sacred with horizontal leadership

The matriarchy held all property communally.

The matriarchy treats property with equal rights and equal access.

The matriarchy held earth as a sacred being of the divine

The patriarchy holds the yang principle as supreme with hierarchical leadership.

The patriarchy holds only the elite or upper class as property owners.

The patriarchy is entitled to subjugate and enslave lower classes as property

The patriarchy in its rebellion against the matriarchy treats earth as an object to be used and consumed in a hierarchical matrix

4 is The Emperor – a principle of growth through a foundation of conflict seeking resolution

Astrology:

[All degrees in the chart (see illustration) are rounded up one degree if the number – not in bold is 1 minute or greater.]

Patriarchal Authority is highlighted and exhaled in authoritarianism. It is poised for a yang-based transformation triggered by a revolution of self. Patriarchal authority continues to go through a cycles of death and rebirth and this same authority is transforming the divine feminine. Goddess energies are making spiritual and emotional connections to the world community. Goddess energies are most likely to reveal an abundance of secrets set to transform the world of authority aka the patriarch. Communications and thinking are likely to be intense and in conflict seeking resolution with authority.